Blinded in the Dark Room
by xprimrose
Summary: Charlie, a close friend of Kate Marsh, approaches Nathan claiming she's got some information about Rachel's whereabouts. It turns out that there's a whole other side of Rachel's story that has been kept in the dark. Meanwhile, Kate's will to live is still wavering and Charlie loses her grip on their friendship as Nathan and her begin to sympathize for one another more and more.
1. Stalker

Ms. Grant's honeyed voice explaining Newtons three laws for the fiftieth time began to sound more of a drone in the back of his head than a lecture. He yawned obnoxiously and put his two feet onto the desk. She shot him a dirty look but continued with her lecture, deciding it wasn't worth calling him out for it. Nathan saw absolutely no point in taking a class he couldn't care less about. Science was for dorks like Warren Graham, or Brooke Scott who couldn't get into Blackwell for anything that actually involved _talent_.

As if he already didn't dread physics enough, he had recently acquired a new stalker in the class. It was only five minutes into second period and he could already feel the girl's hair-raising stare on the back of his neck. What the fuck did she want? David Madsen had already been tracking his every move for the past week, and now he had to deal with yet another pair of eyes watching him at Blackwell. It had been going on for days, and Nathan finally realized by the fifth that it was no coincidence. Even now, he could still feel from the corner of his eyes, Charlie Morgan's relentless gaze.

Was the girl a walking camera for the security guards? Or just an admiring stalker? Nathan was used to people staring at him; of course. He was, after all, the big bad wolf at Blackwell, and everyone knew it. So it was no abnormal occurrence when people turned their heads to watch him walk by in the halls. But what bothered him the about Charlie, was that whenever they made eye contact, instead of inferiority in her eyes, he found emptiness staring straight back at him. There was nothing to read into; her hazel eyes were so glazed over they could've evaporated if she sat too close to direct sunlight; like the way that jellyfish do when they're left out of water. He didn't know what she wanted. Everything about the chick just gave him the fucking chills.

She was relatively close friends with Blackwell's sweetheart, Kate Marsh; they were often seen eating lunch together. When she wasn't with Kate, though, he often saw her talking to Dana and Juliet, and other times caught glimpses of the skaters trying to stir up conversation with her as well. She mostly drifted from group to group like a nomad, depending on the day and how she was feeling. The girl was socially clueless, and such a shame too, as she looked like a student who had a lot of potential to climb the social ladder of Blackwell. People were clearly drawn to her but she didn't seem to be drawn to people in the same way. No one _really_ knew her like they knew all the other Blackwell students. You couldn't label her like you could with Justin or Zach; Charlie Morgan was a fucking mystery that everyone wanted in on. But not Nathan. Something was off about her—but it seemed he was the only one who took notice.

She usually kept to herself in class. Even when Ms. Grant called on her she rarely spoke, which disappointed the teacher greatly as she saw some potential in the girl that no one else did. How she was even passing the class, Nathan didn't even know. Her exam scores were average at best— from what he saw passing back papers—and without participation points he had no idea how she wasn't kicked out of his damn school yet. He did know one thing though—she was on some sort of a writing scholarship. What kind of shit she wrote though, he had no clue, and he didn't care. Most likely some fantasy stories about unicorns and fairies—that's as far as her stupid mundane mind could imagine, probably.

The bell rang finally, about 55 minutes past when it should have, in Nathan's opinion. He quickly grabbed his bag (since he hadn't bothered to take anything out of it in the first place) and slid out of the classroom before anyone could get in his way. His head was already beginning to feel light and his palms sweaty; He needed his fix—now.

The walk up to the dormitories was always the hardest whenever Nathan was feeling the weight of the withdrawal, but he made it up the final few steps through sheer willpower. He clumsily unlocked the door to his dark lair and threw his backpack on the bed. With what strength he could muster, he dragged the dusty couch towards the center of the room and reached for his stash taped behind it. He fumbled to shove the pills into his mouth and grabbed a half-empty water bottle sitting on his shelf to wash it down. His breathing slowed down a little and he threw himself onto the couch with an arm slew over his eyes. _Fuck, fuck. Nathan you're okay, you're okay man._ He could feel his shaking episodes begin, and he gripped tightly to the side of the couch, where several scratch marks showed evidence of previous epileptic episodes. This shit was almost a fucking _routine_ for him. These weren't recreational drugs either; these were drugs just to keep him lucid in this nightmare he was living. He was slowly losing his mind—more and more every single day—and the only person who fucking cared was the person supplying his diazepam. Therapy wasn't helping in the slightest, and his parents were planning on cutting that off anyway, afraid that the doctor might be right for once. It wasn't quite his mental state they were worried about; rather they were in denial that their "precious little son" was going absolutely mental all thanks to years of their emotional abuse.

His face turned pink with heat. He started to take off his jacket but the drugs were already kicking in and his arms felt too weak to even slide out of the sleeve. He struggled for a moment before deciding to just unbutton all his layers; anything to get some air onto his skin. His chest moved up and down in desperate attempts to calm his breathing. It would be over soon, hopefully.

Suddenly, two hard knocks on his door startled him enough to sit up straight. No one ever came looking for him; and it had to be now when he was at his absolute worst? Who could it be? "What do you want?" he asked, slightly slurring his words. Fuck, his head hurt.

"The door's locked." It was a female voice he couldn't exactly recognize. Girls weren't even allowed in this part of the building. He took a moment to assess his situation and shouted back,

"Go away, I'm… I'm busy!" He tore the letterman jacket off and fanned himself furiously, closing his eyes.

"Please," Her voice quieted. "Nathan." She knocked again, this time her knuckles barely brushing against the door. He took several deep breaths and got himself up off the couch and immediately fell back onto his bed; catching himself with his arms. He punched the bed once in frustration and wiped away the beads of sweat that had begun to form on his forehead.

"Fine, give me a damn second." Nathan fell to his knees against the foot of his bed and rested his face in his hands for a moment before unlocking the door. "No, not you." The gaunt girl stepped into the room with her hands tightly balled into fists so that the whites of her knuckles were showing. "What the fuck are you doing in the boys' dorm you goody goody?" He snarled.

"I need to talk to you." Charlie replied, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Do you know who the f-fuck I am? I'm gonna call security on your ass and hopefully get you fucking suspended for—for bothering me here!" The girl closed the door behind her and locked it.

"You're going to get into just as much trouble as I am if I tell them you asked me to come here."Un-fucking-believable. Did this girl have any idea who she was blabbering to? Did she really think they'd buy her story over his?

"Y-You listen to me, fucking stalker, I, will have y-you—" She wasn't even listening to him. Instead, her eyes wandered the walls of his dark room and landed on several of the bondage posters he had plastered up all around. "Listen to me!" He tried to scream, but he was so weak it came out nothing more than a powerless murmur. "I know you've been watching me. It doesn't take a detective to know you've been following me around, too. I'm telling you now to leave me, the fuck alone!" He stood up to face her and pointed a shaky finger in her face. She reached up to move his hand and he slapped it away, keeping the finger firmly pointed—as firmly as his weak body could withstand.

"I'm not stalking you, Nathan. Everyone knows where you live. It says "Prescotts rule" on your whiteboard slab; it's not a mystery which one your room is." A CD sitting on his nightstand entitled "whale songs" caught her attention and she stopped talking for a moment. Nathan readied himself to scream up a lung when another two knocks on the door shut them both up and for a moment. They looked at each other as if asking the other what to do next.

"Yo, Nathan, you in there?" Now this voice he recognized; it was Hayden, and he sounded like he always did when he wanted something. Friendly.

"Fuck, fuck. This is not what I needed right now!" Nathan hissed. The girl simply shrugged and mouthed to him what she should do. He pointed at his half open closet, "Hide in there and don't say a fucking word." She nodded obediently and he slid the door shut behind her. Pushing out the wrinkles in his shirt, he unlocked the door and put a fake smirk on his face.

"Hey man, what's up." Hayden seemed almost glad to see Nathan was okay—probably because if he wasn't then Hayden wouldn't get his goods. "Hey listen, the Vortex party is this weekend and I know you're gonna hook us up and everything but uh… Do you think I could get some o' that right now? Just a little? You know, me and the boys were planning on—"

"Nuh-uh-uh," Nathan shook his head, "Not this early in the day, bro. I know how tempted you get. Come back to me later tonight and I'll hook it up alright?" Hayden smiled, relived that he hadn't just flat out said 'no', and fist-bumped him.

"Alright man you right. I'll see you later Nathan." And just like that he was off down the hallway back to his own room. Nathan quickly shut the door again and slid open the closet, yanking Charlie by her arm.

"Ouch, Nathan, I didn't think anyone would come in here." She muttered. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You think saying 'sorry' excuses any of this? What the fuck would've happened if he saw you in here huh? Why the fuck _are_ you in here?" His voice boomed.

"This isn't a good time to talk, meet me on top of the girls' dormitory at three a.m. Tonight. I know you can get your hands on the keys." She grabbed her bag from where she had tossed it in the closet and quickly made her way towards the exit. Nathan put his arm over the knob before she could reach for it, and pressed her back against the door.

"Don't go telling me what to do now, nobody fucking tells me what to do." His face was so close to hers she could practically smell the sheer frustration on his breath. She put a calm hand on his chest and gently pushed; but he refused to be deterred. She lowered her hand and let him get closer to her until their noses were touching.

"It's about Rachel Amber." She whispered, and suddenly, as if by magic, that was enough to get him off of her. She quickly unlocked the door and did a quick side-to-side glance before running out of the dorm hall.

"Rach…el?" Nathan stood at his door and watched the girl as she escaped through the stairs. "What the fuck does she know about Rachel?


	2. Rooftop Lockdown

Nathan had decided to stay up until three to meet up with her rather than try and sleep until then. The anxiety of hearing _anything_ on Rachel was enough adrenaline to keep him wired until just before the sun rose. The scrawny teen took a glance at himself in the mirror and realized just how wiry his arms had become, and how much his pale, sickly skin emphasized the scars hidden beneath his sleeve. He ran a finger against where the skin was slightly raised and grabbed his signature red letterman before he left the room—as he always did.

Charlie was right about Nathan having no issues finding a spare key for the rooftop. After his last class he had headed straight into Principal Wells' office and rummaged his desk for the key with "roof" printed sloppily on some scotch tape. The idiot had left his door unlocked and was off somewhere else; but it probably wouldn't have made a difference. Wells was practically kissing Nathan's toes just to make sure the school was still receiving money from his parents. He could've marched in there and demanded for a key if need be, and Wells would've handed it right over. Regardless, Nathan was less-than-fond of the way Charlie assumed he'd do it in the first place. Who the hell did she think she was? It was a miracle he hadn't blown up in her face for even being in his dorm. He patted his hip to make sure the key was still in his pocket and slipped out of the boys' hall to go find her. Whatever she had to say, it'd better be good.

"I'm surprised you're here," She whispered as Nathan approached the steps of the girls' dorm. "Follow me," She waved him in. Nathan scoffed. The girl was wearing a white tank top with maroon-colored pajama bottoms and a flannel tied around her waist. She looked like she was just about ready to sleep—or had just woken up. He followed her quietly through the halls and they hopped up to the top of the stairwell; both without saying a word. "You got the key, right?" She asked, turning towards him. Nathan fumbled in the dark for a moment and fidgeted with the keyhole until they finally heard that satisfying click sound that meant they were successful snoops. They pushed into the fresh air and she held the door open for him. He stopped for a moment, deciding whether or not he should've been the one holding the door. "Go on,". He stepped through and caught himself nodding a small thank you.

"Alright say what you have to say so I can get the fuck back to sleep." Nathan grumbled, crossing his arms. He had no idea how she wasn't shivering already. Not only was she barely dressed but the wind was blowing exceptionally hard at the top of the ten-story building. She sat herself down on the cement and leaned back on her arms. "I don't have time for—"

"Just sit, Nathan, trust me, you'll want to." Charlie patted the spot beside her and looked up at him. Even in the dim moonlight, her eyes glowed like headlights, but still so vacant. He scoffed and sat down on her other side just to spite her.

"Alright, well, spit it out." He said, staring at his shoes. "What the hell do you know about Rachel?"

"Well, I know that she was close to me and I know her well enough to realize she didn't just leave on her own. She wouldn't do that."

"So you're telling me you don't fucking know anything, great. I knew I should've fucking ignored you." He sneered.

"Nathan I know Rachel didn't run away." She reached into the pocket of her loose pajamas and pulled out a carton of cigarettes and a scratched up lighter from the other side. She held out the box of fags for him but he shook his head.

"No, thanks, I don't smoke cigarettes." She shrugged and tucked the contraband back into her pockets. After a couple long drags, she held the cigarette between her two fingers and blew a stream of smoke.

"Rachel's my sister."

"Oh bull-shit, you two don't even have the same last name—"

"—half sister. Same mom, different dads, and they ended up separating, obviously, so we weren't raised together." She inhaled another straight drag and the smoke floated out of her small nostrils.

"How the hell does no one know then? Rachel never mentioned you to anyone."

"She had her life to live and I had mine. We never grew up together so it just seemed natural to stray away from each other at school too. And besides, I've only been here for 3 months, it hasn't been that hard to keep a secret." Seeing Charlie smoke somehow made Nathan feel a little uneasy. After all the exposure he'd had to people abusing illegal substances—and he'd been exposed to plenty— seeing the same girl who hung out with Kate Marsh on a daily basis smoking a cigarette somehow rubbed him wrong. He shifted his weight onto his other side and wrapped his arms around his knees; there was no way Charlie could possibly be content her in her meekly wife-beater in this cold. He took off his jacket slowly, debating whether or not sacrificing it to her would be the right thing to do. He decided he'd give it to her only if she asked, and kept it balled up in his lap until then. "I don't expect people to understand; I don't expect you to, either." She said, not turning to look at him. She didn't seem to be phased by the wind at all. "But I need to find her. I can't just pretend she was never a part of my life. I don't… have anyone but Rachel." Her drags were beginning to get so deep the cigarette was already half ash and she tapped it against the side of her knee.

"What, are your parents rich assholes too?" Nathan asked with a scoff.

"No, Dad's always off with his new girlfriend-of-the-week. The only reason he even considered letting me go here was because he knew I'd be out of his hair for ten months. That, and, I got a full ride so I won't have to dip into his alcohol-fund." Nathan looked away from her uncomfortably, realizing his comment might've hit closer to home than he realized; and they weren't even rich to ease the burn. "And her parents, my mom included, they're so in denial about the entire thing. I tried to tell them but… I think they just want to imagine she ran off and is somewhere happy. Mom doesn't know too much about me these days, and I don't really have the heart to tell her now that I think Rachel's gone." Her cigarette was now nothing but a stub of the filter, and she held it between her thumb and index finger, studying it for a moment, before putting it out on the inner part of her arm.

"D-Don't do that!" Nathan exclaimed, reaching out to her before he could even realize what he was doing. "You shouldn't do that to yourself, it's fucking sick…" She slid the butt into her pocket and turned to look at him for the first time all night.

Using just her index finger, she slightly lifted the sleeve of his black t-shirt just enough to reveal the scars running all up and down. "You shouldn't do that either." She said, fingering the scars. He was caught off guard by her bold gesture and grabbed her wrist roughly.

"Don't ever fucking touch me Y-you don't know jack shit about me." He quickly threw on his jacket, embarrassed and a bit mad at himself for even thinking of giving it over to her. He stood up, "I'm leaving. Thanks for fucking nothing." and stormed off towards the stairwell door. Charlie leaned back on her arms and closed her eyes, feeling a little guilty. She tapped her fingers on the pavement

"I think I'm gonna lay up here for a bit. It's nice to finally get some air. Blackwell gets so hectic sometimes with everyone around and watching." She inhaled the cold air through her nostrils and a white vapor came out on the exhale; it really was getting cold. She untied the flannel from her waist and managed to wrap it around herself without even getting up, though it didn't help much. If anything, she'd get a cold and have an excuse to skip class for a week. A strong wind blew over the top of the roof and her toes curled up in her shoes.

"Fine, whatever, get your ass in trouble, I'm leaving." Nathan stormed his way to the door and jammed on the lever, eager to get back to his dorm and sleep this shitty night off. He didn't buy it, any of it. There was no way Charlie was related to Rachel; he would've known about it. Everyone would've noticed it by now, if it were true. She was definitely lying, and he stayed up all night just to hear her spew bullshit. Now this stupid door was stuck. He pushed on the doorknob again, this time harder, but it remained stagnant. He clumsily patted his pockets, front and back, but the key was nowhere to be found. "What the—where did I—" He jiggled at the metal handle even harder and growled in frustration. Steam was practically flowing out of his nostrils as he put all his weight against the door, hoping it was just stuck and not locked. "Where the fuck is the key? Ugh, god damn it, I just want to go back to my room!" He whipped his head around to face Charlie, who was still in the same curled up position she'd been in. "Do you have it?"

"You lost the key?" She asked, cracking an eye open. "How are we gonna get down?"

"I don't fucking know! This is your fault, you're the one who dragged us up here for no god damn reason! What are we supposed to do now? Jump off?"

"You want to jump off the building together? We wouldn't make it." She murmured, but the way she said it made the hair on the back of Nathan's neck rise. The air was still for a moment before she interrupted the silence, "I'm just kidding—Nathan. The night's almost over anyway, let's just try and wait until the sun rises and we can call for help when the students start waking up." She patted the ground next to her and rested her head on her other arm.

"You… you planned this didn't you? You want me to get into trouble? Is that it? Do you even know who I am? I—"

"Yes Nathan I know, you own Blackwell, you can get away with anything, blah blah. Enough. Just calm down for a couple hours okay? Besides, you're the one who had the key, if anyone this is _your_ fault. There's no use in getting upset now." She rolled over, realizing her offer had been rejected.

"I hope your sorry ass gets expelled after this, _Chump_ lie _._ " He grumbled, stomping over to the corner opposite of her and plopping himself down in defeat.

"Chumplie, that's funny. If you sit there and stew for too long you're going to turn into a steamed vegetable." She warned teasingly. He only huffed in response and crossed his arms. Charlie sighed, realizing her jokes weren't helping to ease the tension whatsoever. She nuzzled her nose into the nape of her arm and evened her breathing. Soon the cold didn't feel like much, and her mind was off somewhere far away, and the two of them drifted off to sleep, perhaps dreaming about the same thing.

* * *

"R-rachel… n-no, please d-don't…" Charlie's eyes fluttered open; the last fragments of her dreams being washed away by the realization that she was now awake. "D-don't…No!" She pushed herself up from the ground, her back feeling surprisingly realigned from having slept on a level surface for once. "No… No!" She shook her head, slightly disorientated. The frightened voice gradually grew louder, echoing in her ears, forcing her to gain consciousness of where she was. Charlie looked around, blinking hard, putting two and two together and realizing she was definitely not in her usual sleeping environment. Her hazy eyes immediately fell upon the boy in the corner, shriveled up in the fetal position with his eyes wound tightly shut and muttering in his sleep like a maniac. She threw off her flannel and stumbled onto her feet without even taking a moment to balance herself and made her way over to the helpless, wriggling boy. She was far too dazed to realize how taboo the whole situation was. A gentle hand on his shoulder caused him to curl up even tighter.

"Hey, Nathan. Nathan." She gently shook his shoulder, her eyes barely keeping themselves open. "Nathan is everything alright?" Suddenly, his bloodshot eyes popped open and he grabbed her arms in sheer hysteria. The look on his face was one Charlie had never seen on Nathan, or anyone for that matter; one that read as if he'd seen something disturbing beyond words, and it was coming right for him. _Some nightmare_ , she thought. He breathed heavily for a second, his heart pounding hard against his chest and in his ears. His palms were sweaty with fear. He stared at the tender face hovering over him but with fear in his eyes. "Nathan? Are you with me?"

"Get off me!" He pushed her onto her back and stood up, his eyes darting frantically from side to side. His hands were shaking, and looking for something to grip onto as if he was afraid of being dragged away. He was breathing through his mouth like he just couldn't get enough oxygen in.

"Nathan? We need to get you back to your dorm—now. It's nine o'clock, everyone's awake." Charlie sprang herself up from the ground, excusing Nathan's actions due to the nightmare, and snatched up her flannel from the sparkling cement.

"Wh-where the fuck am I?" Nathan asked, utterly disorientated.

"We're on the roof of the girls' dorms. Come on, I've got the key." Sure enough, the once lost keys were pulled out of the girl's pajama bottoms and inserted into the door knob.

"I thought I l-lost those." His voice sounded strange and detached —like he was falling in and out of reality and couldn't quite comprehend where he stood. Charlie put her hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the door.

"No, no I took them." She muttered under her breath, at this point slightly disappointed and full of regret for pulling such a stunt.

"Where am I?" His voice wavered the second time he asked. His eyes darted all around him like he was blind. His whole body was quivering and he had arms pulled in tight to his chest, and it gave Charlie the most sickening feeling at the pit of her stomach. She wanted to know what was wrong, but asking him in his current state was futile. Right now, the priority was to get him back to his dorm safely and quietly. She took a deep breath,

"Okay, Nathan you need to be quiet alright?" and unlocked the door into the stairwell. Immediately, the push of the door sent a warm burst of air that kissed the tip of her cold pink nose. Only now she realized how chilled the surface of her skin had become after sleeping in the open. She anxiously tapped her foot, waiting for him to step inside first. "Come on, let's get you back before anyone sees us." Nathan looked at her for a moment, furrowing his brows at her sudden affability, and proceeded to stumble towards the stairwell.

"Wait, no. It's dark! It's so dark." He screamed, causing Charlie to drop the keys. She let the heavy metal door gently shut behind them dashed down the stairs until she was in front of him and frantically cupped a hand over his mouth as he was readying to scream again.

"Nathan please! Please stay quiet." He looked back at her with glassy eyes, his face scrunched with an unbearable amount of fear. "Nathan…" She whispered, slowly lowering her hand. She turned around, fighting back a choking tear she couldn't explain, and headed down first, hoping to show him it would be alright. She took a few steps and waited for the sound of his feet following right behind. When they made it down to the first floor, she quietly opened the door and poked her head out. The hall was surprisingly empty, which was good news for them. She waved for him to go first, "Right behind you, Nathan." She whispered tenderly. He looked left and right and then back at her for a brief second before dashing across the hall towards the main exit. Charlie chased after him, her heart racing a million miles a second. As soon as they were inches away from being home free, Charlie heard the gut-churning sound of someone's door opening behind them.

"…Charlie? Is that you?" Juliet yawned. It was too late to run out now, she had already seen them, and it would've only been more suspicious if they did.

"Juliet! Uh," Charlie struggled to rack her brain for an excuse as to why in the world she was sneaking around with Nathan Prescott. She hoped to God that Juliet wouldn't make any crude accusations about what they were doing in the girls' dorm.

"Um, who is that with you? Is that a boy?" She gasped suddenly. Too late. "Charlie you didn't seem like the type! Wait is that… Nathan? Nathan Prescott?" Nathan stood frozen in his tracks, his breathing becoming increasingly frenzied. He turned to Charlie looking for an answer; his eyes were wide and glazed over like a fish left floundering..

"Fuck," She mumbled under her breath. "Juliet, look, I need you to stay quiet about this, okay? No one finds out. I have to go now, I'll talk to you later!" _Smooth, Charlie, real smooth._ She grabbed Nathan by the arm and together they ran out to the steps of the building. Charlie's eyes searched the perimeter before they moved forward. "Ah, shit!" They just couldn't catch a damn break. Just as they thought they had escaped, Charlie saw the back of a tall man in a blue uniform, with a black flat-top haircut and a radio in hand. He was pacing back and forth no more than 200 feet from them.

"W-what's wrong?" Nathan asked, gripping onto her shoulder.

"Madsen's over there. And that's the only way back to the boys' dorm. Uh… I guess now that we're out of the dorms we could just walk by him. He can't get us in trouble for walking around campus together, right?"

"No, he's been s-stalking me. For weeks. If he sees you with me he'll start watching you too. It's real shitty being watched, Charlie, trust me. Let's find a way around him…okay?" Now that Nathan was slowly regaining a sense of reality, he wasn't shaking as much. His voice became less maniacal and just became plain frightened. Charlie knew that if he was back to his normal self, he'd be screaming his head off at her for "feeling sorry for him", but she couldn't help but bite her lips at the way his pink eyes sulked at her.

"Okay then… Everyone knows you with that jacket on, he'll spot you immediately. Take that off, and use my flannel to cover your head. " He did as he was told and handed her his crimson letterman, not knowing what to do with it like a child would do to his mother. She hugged the bundle tightly to her chest and lurched forward so that David wouldn't be able to see what she was holding. "Ready?" She dashed forward with her head tucked down, and Nathan followed, with the flannel fluttering rapidly behind him.

"Hey—you two!" David screamed at them, his voice booming and irritated as it always sounded. "Stop! That's an order!" He shouted, his voice stern echoing his days in the army. They ran past him anyway and straight towards the boys' building. He must have decided the chase wasn't worth it, because when they reached Nathan's dorm, no one was following behind.

Nathan recognized his door immediately, and burst into his room like someone gone mad.

"We're here." Charlie sighed. She folded Nathan's jacket and laid it neatly onto his made bed. She turned to look at him with a relieved smile on her face but it was immediately wiped away as she saw him curled up in the corner of his room, beneath the foot of the bed, in a fetal position. His arms covered the sides of his face and he was crying. They were silent tears and she could hear his quiet whines between his shuddering breaths; it made her practically fall to her knees beside him. "Nathan, oh my god." Her voice barely reached a whisper. She rubbed his back, forcing back her own tears and her eyes darted around the room, searching for something that might help him. Her eyes fell upon the CD player she had noticed upon first entering his room, and she tripped over her feet trying to grab it. "Nate… Nate I'm going to leave this here for you, okay?" Whale songs were not her particular method of calming down, but he had to have had them in his room for a reason. The fact that these crying episodes may have been a regular thing made her gut stir with sympathy. Perhaps there was more to this boy than he led off. His crying calmed down for a moment and he lifted one arm away from his face. "Are you feeling bet—"

"Get the FUCK out of my room! Now! Get out!" His sudden screech caught Charlie's voice in her throat.

"Do you need me to—"

"I don't fucking need you to do anything but get the hell out!" He shouted, his voice breaking. She staggered onto her feet and slowly backed out of the room. "Get out Charlie!" She gained enough strength to run out of the room and loudly shut the door behind her. She leaned against the wood and fell to the floor, hugging her legs and burying her face into her knees. The fabric around her eyes began to darken from the tears flowing uncontrollably out of her red eyes. She couldn't fathom what had just happened in the past half hour, and it wasn't that she was crying because her feelings were hurt; she just felt so sorry for whatever caused Nathan to become like this in the first place. She pushed herself from the carpet and rubbed her eyes hard; realizing she had left her flannel in his room. She turned around to face his door and erased the writing on his whiteboard slab. Taking the pen in her shaky hand, she sniffed and wrote him a message,

"Sorry." She clicked the pen back into it's spot and left the boys dorm feeling more empty than she had ever felt before.

Inside his dorm, Nathan remained curled up in a quivering ball of anxiety. His hands were tangled in his hair and he gripped tightly on his scalp as the visions kept coming back. _Rachel. Where is Rachel? In the dark room?_ He fumbled around the messy floor with one hand and found the headphones Charlie had left beside him. He slipped them on and shakily pressed play. The whale songs began to play and he closed his eyes, dreaming of another life, one where he didn't have to hurt people like Charlie.


	3. Acknowledgment

The details of that morning were fuzzy; a haze of shouting and blurry eyes, but he knew she had been there with him. He faintly remembered her pink, watery, hazel irises, and the way her skin crinkled between her eyebrows with fear at the sobbing, panicked mess of a boy shaking at her feet. He recalled the way her voice broke when he screamed at her to get out. He really hadn't meant to hurt her. And he felt sorry for the person to have to had been there to witness his falling apart, something that had become all-too-routine for him. This time had been worse, though; worse than it had been in a while. Talking to Charlie on the roof that night had triggered some blockaded memory in the back of his head that he could only foggily remember fragments of, but whatever it was, it sent shivers up the back of his spine he couldn't explain. A day ago he had deemed her as his stalker, and now he found himself longing for her gaze on his back once more. Ms. Grant's class floated with a different aura this time around. He rested his head flat on his desk and closed his eyes. His hands twiddled anxiously in his lap.

"Mr. Prescott, you aren't sleeping in my class, are you?" The droning lecture came to sudden a stand-still as everyone's eyes landed on him. Ms. Grant put a hand on her hip impatiently as she waited for an explanation as to why he thought interrupting her class was appropriate.

"No, sorry." He sat himself up straight, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. For the first time, Nathan found himself lacking a snide response, and decided it wasn't worth the trouble today.

"Good. I know we've only got two minutes left, but continuing on with…" One by one, everyone turned back to their textbooks and resumed the _riveting_ lesson Ms. Grant was determined to get through before the bell rang. Nathan turned around to see if perhaps the disruption had caught Charlie's attention, but he was surprised to see that she, too, had her head resting in her textbook. He rubbed his eyes, facing forward again, and tapped his feet irritably until the bell finally went off. He grabbed his bag, taking his time, hoping to give her a chance to catch up with him if she so desired. Why he wanted her to approach him so badly? Maybe he craved her acknowledgement, just so he could stop questioning his sanity and whether or not that night had happened at all. He stalled for as long as he could and finally glanced at her desk to find it empty. He averted his attention to the door, hoping he could at least catch a glimpse of her before she ran out. She was stalled at the front of the classroom, talking to Ms. Grant, who was cocking her head to the side expressing a look of concern. Nathan slowly walked past the desk, hoping to catch onto their conversation.

"…hope you're getting enough sleep. You never sleep in my class." The woman put a hand on Charlie's shoulder and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry, I was up all night finishing up a paper for Hoida's class. I wouldn't ever sleep in your class purposely, but sometimes you can't really help the fatigue."

"I know what you mean. I was a teenager once too. I'm not angry with you, I just want you to know I'm here if you need to talk about anything that's bothering you. We all are."

"Right, thanks… I know." Charlie smiled weakly at her. Nathan bit the inside of his cheek as he listened to her obviously made-up excuse, but the teacher didn't seem to catch on.

"Alright, I'll let you get to your next class now." Ms. Grant dropped her hand and waved the girl off. Charlie turned towards the door, meeting eyes with Nathan for a split second. He opened his mouth, almost about to say something, but she quickly looked down and dashed out of the class before he could, leaving him with an even more sickening feeling of discomfiture. Nathan dropped his gaze and followed her out the door.

"And you, Nathan." He stopped in his tracks. "I know you've got a lot of 'extracurricular' activities going on at night, but you need to make sure you aren't making up for sleep in my class." The teacher's voice took an apparent change in tone from when she was talking to Charlie, and Nathan felt his heart pumping with anxiety. He ignored her comment and stormed out of the classroom without saying a word.

* * *

Charlie strode past the parking lot as a shortcut back to her dorm. It was only ten a.m., but she really wasn't in the mood to do anything but sleep. She noticed a tall, shaggy-haired figure standing in the lot. Warren was leaning against the hood of his, presumably, new car that he'd been bragging about, and Max was standing adjacent from him with her arms crossed. They seemed evidently irritated by whatever it was they were talking about.

"Hey Charlie," Max greeted softly as she strode by. Warren looked slightly disappointed that she had run into them in their time alone, but smiled warmly anyway and waved at her.

"Hey dude, how's it goin'?" he asked.

"It's going as good as it can at a shitty art school, I guess." Charlie shrugged.

"Tell me about it," Max groaned.

"We were just talking about how off-the-wall Nathan's been lately. Have you noticed? Man, he really needs to chill out." Warren shook his head. Charlie raised an eyebrow at them, shifting her weight to one leg.

"What about Nathan?" She asked.

"Dude's been bullying Max." Max gave Warren a wary look in which he returned with an apologetic shrug.

"Bullying how?" Charlie asked, clearly piqued.

"You know, the usual, 'I rule this school and I can do terrible things to you and it won't matter!' business." Max muttered.

"Really…"

"Yeah, he's been extra high-strung these past few days… Something's definitely up with him." Max nodded.

"Well duh, the guy's a nutcase. Good thing his parents have enough money to hire as many therapists as he needs." Warren chuckled.

"That's not funny, Warren." Charlie snapped. He immediately stopped laughing. His eyes widened like prey about to be caught as she took a step closer to him. "You can't go around analyzing people like you know them. What if he does have issues?" She argued bluntly.

"Uh, the guy _does_ have issues. Anyone can see that." Warren scratched the back of his neck nervously at the sudden shift in mood. "Don't tell me you're defending that asshole Charlie?" Max looked back and forth at the two of them, as if waiting for a response.

"I'm not defending anybody; I'm just saying it's a dick move to go around picking fun at other peoples' problems."

"You know him and Victoria have been hassling Kate lately?" Max interrupted, "I heard them bullying her about that…video." She rubbed her elbow. She seemed just as nervous as Warren at Charlie's sudden change in character.

"What?"

"They get some kind of sick kick out of it." Max sighed. Charlie bit her lip, realizing that for a moment it seemed she had almost forgotten who Nathan Prescott actually was. Slowly fathoming what Max had just said, she realized it wasn't that surprising after all. She slowly took a step back, her body progressively filling with regret.

"Actually, you should go talk to her… someone should. Kate's been looking so sad in the hallways lately, but whenever I ask her what's wrong she just ignores me. She only ever really talks to you, Charlie." Warren murmured.

"I've tried too… she hasn't been opening up." Max said, "Maybe you should go talk to her."

"Yeah, I'll go do that." Her voice sounded distant. "Thanks for uh… letting me know. I'll see you guys later." Charlie waved them off and headed back in the direction of the main school building. Max and Warren took a moment, giving each other a staggered look before resuming their conversation.

* * *

Charlie found them sitting on the desks in Mr. Jefferson's room like a pair of arrogant, snobby, rats. There weren't many students who had arrived yet, and the two weren't trying too hard to keep their voices down anyway. She approached them at a furious pace and stood square in front of them. The duo stopped their conversation abruptly and Victoria gave the girl a glance up and down.

"What do you want?" The blonde asked snarkily. Looking at her smug face now, Charlie realized the two had actually never shared a real conversation before, but she already knew she would never want to. Charlie ignored her comment and looked straight at Nathan instead as she spoke.

"Leave Kate the fuck alone." The sound of her brazen words silenced the murmurs of the few students who were in the room.

"What the hell? What is that supposed to mean?—"

"You know what I mean, Victoria." She volleyed back, before the other girl could finish her fake clueless act. "Stop fucking spreading rumors about her. Don't even talk about Kate. Keep her name out of your dirty mouth." Her accusations—though true—took Victoria completely off guard and she made a show of putting a hand on her chest, absolutely aghast. Nathan narrowed his eyes at Charlie, and leaned forward on his knees,

"Why don't you fucking leave huh? Who do you think you're talking to?" His snarled lowly. His forehead was right up against her nose, but Charlie's expression remained unchanged as she continued to stare straight into his beady blue eyes.

"Do you want her to go missing too?" She asked. Suddenly his face changed. Nathan's eyes widened and it looked like he was going to be sick. He softened his stance and sat up straight, averting his eyes away from her.

"What the hell does that mean? I'm not doing anything. The girl did it all to herself at that party, right Nathan?" She turned to him for validation, but he wasn't paying attention to her. Instead he leaned back onto the desk and cleared his throat before growling,

"Why don't you get outta here Charlie." But it didn't scare her. She only raised an eyebrow in response as the two stared each other down. Victoria realized Charlie had been talking at him the entire time, and had not even once glanced at her.

"Victoria," She started, finally breaking the tension with Nathan and shifting her eyes towards the blonde girl, "if you don't leave Kate alone, I will go into your dorm, and smash all your expensive rich-kid cameras, and bury it along with your huge fucking ego." Her face was so close that they were practically breathing in each other's breath. Victoria was simply horrorstruck, along with the rest of the students that had just shown up and decided to listen in on the little brawl going on.

"W-what the fuck did you just say to me?" She stuttered in disbelief. The class was only silent for a moment, and then the murmurs began.

"You heard me just fine." Charlie said. She gave Nathan one last remorseful look before turning to leave the classroom. Whispers about how "quiet little Charlie" just dissed Victoria followed her out the door. Nathan was absolutely livid, even more-so than Victoria. He hated the way Charlie had just gawked at him with disappointment, as if he owed her anything. Just a moment ago he craved so badly for her to just look at him, and now that she had, he absolutely hated it. He hated her, and her stupid haunting eyes that he wished didn't showcase so much of how she felt. Victoria still sat dumbfounded at what just happened and put a hand on her forehead.

"Did you hear that? What the fuck is her problem?" She scoffed, getting off of the desk. Nathan simply shook his head, but couldn't bring himself to say anything back.

Steam was practically fuming out of Charlie's ears as she made her way back to her dorm. She was on her way to find Kate, hoping the two could have a pleasant conversation that would calm her down from the disaster that had just taken place in Mr. Jefferson's class. She could almost see her room window when she ran into the last person she had wanted to encounter. David Madsen was, once again, scoping around the girl's dorm like it was routine. There was no way to avoid him this time. She took a deep breath and headed towards the front door as cooly as she could.

"You," He called. _Of course._ She reluctantly rolled her head in his direction.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I _know_ it was you the other day. What the hell were you doing running around with a boy that early in the morning? We got rules here at Blackwell, you know that? And one of those rules is no mixing of the girls and boys in either dorm." He was practically spitting in her face as he spoke, and she was _not_ in the mood to be interrogated. But she kept her face calm. She had already had enough confrontation for today and especially didn't want any from a Blackwell employee.

"Mr. Madsen—"

"And don't go telling me it wasn't you, cause I know it was. You think you were being sly by ducking your head down, huh? And who was that guy with you?" Charlie put her hand on the back of her neck and cracked it frustratedly.

"It _was_ me, and I apologize. I know we're not allowed to have boys in the girls' dorm. Rest assured, we weren't doing anything we shouldn't be. We were studying late and he fell asleep—when we woke up we tried to sneak him back into the boys dorm so we wouldn't get in trouble. That's all."

"Oh yeah? I'm sure." He snarled dubiously. "Who was it?"

"I don't think—"

"Your boyfriend ain't getting cut loose just cause you're tryin' to cover for him."

"Mr. Madsen, I don't think my love life is any of your business."

"I am head security at this school, everything is my business." He stated angrily. She could tell he wasn't buying any of it.

"I really don't want to get anyone else into trouble, but I promise we won't do it again."

"That ain't good enough—"

"Anyway, I have to go now, I left something in my room and I have class in—ten minutes! If you'll excuse me." She quickly scurried away into the girls dorm, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to follow her. She could hear him grunt unsatisfied as she disappeared into the dorms; Once again escaping the wrath of Blackwell security. She almost felt bad for the guy; she knew full well that he was just trying to do his job, and felt guilty for having made it so much more difficult on him. Then again, her love life really _wasn't_ any of his business. Instead of heading up to the third floor towards her room, Charlie stopped at the first floor to see if Kate might be in her room.

Warren was right; Charlie did consider Kate to be one of her closest friends, but it was true that recently they hadn't been talking as much as usual. Charlie was bad at keeping relationships constant, and she felt especially guilty that she hadn't been checking to see if Kate had been alright as of the latest happenings. She'd been so wrapped up in her own life that she'd completely forgotten about Kate's whole fiasco, which was of much higher priority than anything else at the moment. Before knocking on her door, Charlie caught sight of the demeaning message—probably from Victoria—scribbled on Kate's whiteboard and angrily wiped it away with her sleeve. She took a deep breath, and was just about to knock when she heard voices murmuring inside. It sounded like Kate was already talking to someone else. Charlie resisted the urge to press her ear against the door, mostly because it wouldn't have looked good for her if someone saw her. She sighed, disappointed at her wasted efforts, and turned towards the stairwell, deciding she could take a nap in the meanwhile and check back on her later.

Charlie's room was always messy. Not dirty, just messy. Clothes lay strew all over her floor, empty water bottles covered her desk, rendering it almost useless. The fact that her walls were cluttered in posters didn't help the cramped feeling, either. When the room was clean—and it rarely was—the posters added a nice homey atmosphere, but not now. They only made the walls look like they were receding in. The ironic thing was, Charlie hated messy rooms; but somehow she always managed to get it back to this state. Somewhere around the fourth time of intense cleaning she decided her efforts were futile and swore the room was meant to be like this.

She threw herself on her twin sized bed, the only spot not covered in clothes—and kicked off her worn shoes. She ran a hand through her tangled hair and closed her eyes. In the darkness of her eyelids, she visualized the night before, and tried to fathom exactly what had happened. What in the world possessed her to hide the keys from him? The entire fiasco would have been avoided if she hadn't pulled such a stupid stunt. And more importantly, what the hell happened to Nathan that had made him so afraid to the point of having a practically epileptic episode? It couldn't have been just any nightmare. He was _shaking_. His eyes were blurred, ringed with pink and watery. If she didn't know any better she would've thought he had seem a glimpse into the future, and known it'd be darker than all hell. It scared her, to see such a normally pompous boy become so small and afraid. It made her feel some ounce of sympathy for him, despite what she thought of him before. She was still fuming from their conversation in Jefferson's class, but she was less upset with him and more at Victoria for denying all the foul rumors she'd been spreading about Kate. Nathan was nasty, and he was rude, but she doubted that he was the one who'd been spreading Kate's video around. He was many things, but he wouldn't ever sink that low, not like Victoria would. Charlie covered her face in embarrassment as she recollected on what she had said to Victoria in front of everyone. She meant every word, but still, she shouldn't have made her anger so blatant. She had a feeling her days of being a nobody at Blackwell were slowly coming to an end. She turned herself over on her side and nestled her head into her pillow. The smell of her shampoo lulled her into a light sleep, and before she knew it, she was out.

A couple knocks on the door startled her awake. She awoke feeling like her dream had been interrupted, and glanced over sleepily at her alarm clock. Somehow she'd managed to fall asleep for twenty minutes. The knocks continued and banged in her head. "Door's open," She mumbled, half awake.

"Hey, Charlie, did I wake you?" Max's soft voice suddenly compensated for her obnoxious knocking and Charlie sat up to greet the girl.

"No, thanks, I needed to get up anyway." She yawned and patted the side of her bed for Max to sit down, but she politely refused the offer.

"Okay, good. I need to talk to you." She did that thing she always did when she was uncomfortable. Max had one arm gripping the inner elbow of the other and her legs slightly spread apart.

"Alright, what's going on? Am I in trouble?" Charlie joked, scratching her head sleepily.

"No, it's about Kate." Charlie cocked her head to show interest in what the girl had to say. "Listen, Charlie, this is for Kate's well-being, so don't hold out on me, okay?" she only nodded in response. "Okay, what do you know about Nathan Prescott?" Charlie was surprised that that was the first question to be asked. What did Nathan have to do with Kate? She thought for a while before answering,

"I know he's got issues."

"What kind of issues?" Max prodded.

"I'm not really sure."

"Charlie," Max decided to take up the offer and sat down beside her. Charlie scooted back a bit to make room between the two of them. Max's downturned eyebrows made her realize this wouldn't be as pleasant of a conversation as she thought. "This is for Kate's sake. Don't you care about Kate?" She asked. Her know-it-all tone of voice made Charlie scrunch up her nose.

"I'm closer to Kate than anyone at this school, Max. Don't go acting like you know her better than me."

"Then why haven't you been there for her at all these past few weeks?" Max's voice grew in volume as she began to get frustrated.

"You don't get to tell me whether or not I'm there for her, Max. Only she can tell me that."

"Kate is in her room right now, contemplating suicide! And instead of stopping by to see if she's okay, you've been sneaking around with Nathan Prescott? The guy you _know_ has been bullying her and probably the main reason she wants to kill herself?" Max was almost yelling at this point, and it made the other girl shrivel back into her bed. "You haven't been there for her, don't pretend like you have." Charlie's heart suddenly sank to her feet. Juliet must have already spread the rumors; of course. Typical journalist. She was furious at Max's accusations, but at the same time she knew the girl was absolutely right. Every word she said was undeniably true. She _hadn't_ bothered to speak to Kate at all for the past week, even though she was well aware that her friend was probably going through hell. Charlie's own self-absorbed nature was her biggest flaw, and frankly she was embarrassed, and ashamed. Max's determination to help Kate was relentless; she was being a good friend. Charlie was not. "I'm…sorry I didn't mean to yell."

"Max," Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose, "Look…I'm sorry. I promise you I would tell you if I knew anything, but I don't. I appreciate you taking care of Kate while I'm being a neglectful asshole. I'll go talk to her soon. Kate's a good friend. And so are you." Charlie sighed. She knew when to admit defeat, and this had been a major one. Max stood up,

"I'm just saying, you better start looking out for your friends more. There are some crazy things happening around Blackwell, and Kate needs you in the meanwhile. You know where I am if you need me." She fixed the strap on her messenger bag and gave Charlie one last glance before leaving the room. As soon as the door shut closed, Charlie stuffed her face into her pillow once more and gripped the corners of her bed sheets tightly. Warm tears soaked into the white fabric as she cried silently, letting the guilt of being a selfish, egotistical friend fill up her entire body. The thought of poor, innocent, beautiful Kate, sitting alone in her room, pressing a knife against her wrist, or pressing a gun up against her temple made Charlie want to vomit; she'd rather grab it from her and do it to herself just to rid the image from her mind. She needed to help Kate, starting now, and she knew the first place she had to go.


	4. Car Ride

Nathan returned from class—not even able to remember for the life of him what subject it was—and slugged up the stairs to his room. His eyes felt heavy in his head as he fumbled around in his backpack for his keys. He was the only boy on the floor to ever lock his room. A moment's search produced him with his keyring that had a single charm dangling beside the dorm key; a trinket of a whale he'd bought as a souvenir on his trip to San Diego that last summer. It was browned with fussy handling and was the only good thing that he could remember from the trip. Glancing up, he noticed a rushed message scribbled messily on his whiteboard slab: "Two Whales 3 p.m." He matched the handwriting with the pathetic "sorry" that had been on his whiteboard no less than a day ago—a message he'd frantically erased as soon as he saw it. He let out a single chuckle from the corner of his upturned mouth and raised a sleeve to her message once more. Normally he wouldn't take the fucking time, but if anything he hoped this would be the last time he'd have to deal with this eerie fucking charade. He flung his backpack onto the made sheets of his bed and patted his back pocket for his wallet. He swung his keys around his finger as he made his way to his red SUV.

* * *

Immediately upon entering the diner, Nathan was met with a familiar waft of greasy bacon and sweet syrup. The door jingled as he pushed himself in away from the cold winds, and several heads poked up to glance at who had just come in. Hoping to avoid having anyone recognize him, he quickly darted his eyes around the tables in search of Charlie—or at least a seat to duck into. His eyes fell upon the peculiar sight of a large, black sunhat and round gleaming sunglasses sitting on the girl's cheeks. He turned his neck into his chest and shuffled towards her cautiously, making sure he wasn't mistaken. Much to his reassurance, she met him with a smile and gestured for him to sit down across from her. Sliding into the seat, he leaned forward on his arms and sneered, "What the fuck are you wearing? You do know we live in _Arcadia Bay?_ "

"I'm incognito." She said, lifting the glasses with her long slender fingers.

"From who? If you're hiding from the cops you're doing a pretty shitty job considering this is the police lunchtime central." Nathan answered.

"Not just the cops; I don't want anyone to spot us together." She replied. She placed her purse onto the table and leaned in towards him, "Listen, let's go for a drive, huh?" The question seemed strangely out of context and Nathan raised an unamused eyebrow at her.

"You think you can drag me out here and then make me take you on a fucking date? What the hell is this? I only came 'cause I thought this would be quick!" Charlie took a moment to gather herself and whispered,

"Keep your voice down."

"You don't tell me to—"

"—When you go for a drive, no one can hear what you're talking about, Nathan." It took a moment, but eventually it clicked in his head what she was hinting at. Charlie gave him a relieved sigh and murmured, "I'll buy you a Dr. Pepper before we go." Nathan leaned back in his seat, realizing that no one had ever offered to buy _him_ anything before. Not sure whether or not to deny her offer, he stumbled over a mouthful of responses before she cut him off and raised her hand up to catch the attention of a nearby waitress. The woman looked as if she'd been working since last Friday—straight. The corners of her mouth were slightly downturned, not in a frown but like they'd been in that position for a long time. "Hi, one Dr. Pepper for him, please. And nothing for me." The waitress nodded tiredly and took their menus back as Charlie quickly took off her sunglasses. "Guess those are a little unnecessary." She muttered mostly to herself, and placed them aside next to the condiments and napkin dispenser.

It was long past midday in Arcadia Bay, which mean the sun was already beginning it's descent from the sky. Rays of light shone through the yellowed blinds next to their booth and beamed past Charlie's face at an angle that made her hazel eyes glow. The more he observed the girl before him the more she reminded him of Rachel. Slightly less eccentric and a little more worn down around the edges, but still somehow absolutely radiant in the light of the warm, waning sun. He found her—well, beautiful, but it churned his stomach how much of Rachel he saw in her, and how much he missed her face. He bundled his hands together in his lap and his legs began to bounce anxiously beneath the table. Nathan watched as she lowered her face and rested her chin in the palms of her hand that were held up by her elbows in a ninety degree angle. Her eyes were closed and her head was swaying gently to the song playing on the jukebox.

" _There's a place where lovers go,_

 _To cry their troubles away_

 _And they call it 'Lonesome Town'_

 _Where the broken hearts stay"_

"I love this song," She murmured dreamily. Her eyes remained shut for the entire duration of the song, and a stagnant smile rested peacefully on her lips, not caring for a moment that Nathan was watching her. Once the last lines of the song faded out, she opened her eyes and saw the waitress standing by their table. The woman gave her a nervous smile as if afraid she was interrupting something, before pouring the drink for Nathan.

"You like old-timey shit like that? He asked her, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm a sucker for it." She sighed. "Who isn't though? It's so pure and just… precious."

"I can't say I am." Nathan chewed on the tip of his straw. "Want to play another one?" He pulled out some spare change from his pocket and dropped them on the table. Charlie looked surprised.

"I don't think we have time to wait for the queue." She rested her head onto the table and began making a pile of the coins he had taken out. Nathan sipped at his drink quietly, watching her stack them up.

"Have you eaten anything? Are you just going to sit there?" She looked up at him and the pile of coins knocked over.

"No, no, I'm not very hungry."

"It's three-thirty."

"I know," she said, glancing up at him then back at the coins, "Don't have much of an appetite right now." He frowned watching her stack the coins again as if they wouldn't just fall over at a certain point.

"You know," He started, "The thin look isn't in anymore." As if inevitably, the coins fell over once again and Charlie sat up straight in her chair, staring Nathan square in the eyes, making him think for a moment he might have reached unwanted territory. She let out a disappointed laugh that almost sounded like she might've started crying.

"You think I do it for looks?" She pushed the fallen coins back across the table at him and began to stand up.

"No, wait, Charlie I didn't mean it like—don't leave yet I—"

"Are you done with your drink? Let's go." Nathan quickly stumbled out of his seat, almost forgetting he had a straw in his mouth. He leaned back over the table to grab her sunglasses from the corner.

"Here, don't forget these." He said, handing them to her. Charlie nodded him a thank you and put them on despite not having yet stepped outside. She pulled out her worn leather wallet and fumbled to pull out three dollars, then deciding to just leave whatever she had left for the tired waitress to pick up. Fixing her hat, she promptly led the way to the front door. Nathan followed behind somberly, afraid he may have struck a bad nerve.

It was truly such a strange range of emotions that Charlie provoked within Nathan. Guilt, for one, was something he rarely let himself be bothered by. He'd had his nights of panic episodes where the only thing racing through his aching mind was bundles of regret in his past, but here and now, she drew out some sort of immediate response in him that wanted itself to be heard. He stumbled along behind her, brewing a frustratingly difficult way to apologize without making it seem like he was turning soft. Without realizing it, he ran into her and she dropped the pack of cigarettes she had just pulled out.

"Shit—" he sputtered, picking up the box and handing it back to her. The cigarette hung loosely out of the corner of her lip as she fumbled to find a lighter.

"Smoking's a dirty habit." A new voice jolted the both of them upright and a broad-shouldered cop stood before them with a coffee in his left hand. He was leaning against the side of the diner as if on the lookout for any activity around the area. His tone seemed friendly enough. "Oh—Nathan?" he seemed startled to see the boy in public.

"Yeah, hey." Nathan shoved his hands into his pockets embarrassedly.

"Who's this?" The cop asked with genuine curiosity. He took a sip of his cold drink.

"I'm Charlie." She said, taking her first drag.

"Oh and I suppose you go to Blackwell too?"

"I'm studying creative writing."

"Interesting. And what's a bright young girl like you doing smoking?" The man finished his coffee and dropped it into the full trash can beside him. Charlie took a few more drags without speaking. Nathan couldn't tell whether she was having trouble coming up with a response or if her impeding silence _was_ her answer. After a few moments the cop made an obviously fake glance at his watch and waved at them. "I've been out here for too long, I better get back to the station, see you kids around. Stay out of trouble!" He nodded as he walked by Nathan and made his way back to the police car parked behind the diner.

"As if any of the cops give a shit if they've been on break for too long," she said, putting out the cigarette with her shoe. Nathan thought about the scars on her arms, and that night they'd spent together on the roof.

"Yeah, the car's over there." He clicked his keys to unlock the door and she hopped into the passenger seat, just barely able to pull herself up. He thought about offering his shoulder as leverage but she got up on her own, and he made his way to his own seat.

* * *

He had been driving for a while now, without knowing exactly where they were headed. He realized after ten minutes that neither of them had been talking, yet there was no uneasiness floating in the air. Maybe they had just been enjoying one another's company.

"Nathan," Charlie started. He glanced over at her and averted his eyes back onto the road. "Max knows something about Kate… about why she was acting strange at that party. And I think it might have something to do with what happened to Rachel. Somehow."

"Huh," He triggered his left signal and turned left into a random street.

"She thinks you had something to do with it." Charlie fumbled with her fingers and turned to look at him. He remained silent, his eyes focused on the road before him. It might not have seemed like it, especially him being such a thin boy in such a large car, but Nathan had always been a relatively cautious driver. His reflexes had always been pretty good, and so had his peripheral, but staring at the road gave him something to do as he listened to her talk, so he continued to stare blankly. Charlie realized she needed to warm him up first before he'd say anything. "I think Kate's been getting closer to Max lately."

"What does that have to do with anything? Wouldn't it be better for Kate to have more friends?" Charlie sat herself upright in the seat and leaned her head against the window.

"Well yeah, of course. But… the more people get closer to Kate, the further away I drift from her. Having a world of friends doesn't mean nearly as much as having one friend who means the world to you. Right?" Nathan loosened his grip on the steering wheel and dropped one hand into his lap, calmly controlling the car with his left arm.

"It's good that Kate has a lot of friends."

"I'm not—I'm not saying she shouldn't! I'm—look I'm happy for her, of course I am, I'm not some psychotic, obsessed—"

"I know." He reassured her. Charlie sighed, rubbing her tired eyes.

"I think Kate is starting to realize that there are better people out there for her than me." She brought her knees up to her chest and looked out the window. Nathan leered his eyes to catch a glimpse. He knew she was trying to open up, but it was hard, especially to someone like himself. He wanted to say something that would comfort her, but he just couldn't rack his brain for anything affectionate.

"Friends should still want to be friends even if you end up being a fucking bridge troll." He said, which made Charlie laugh,

"I guess that's how you and Victoria work, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Charlie nodded and the smile began to fade from her face. Her gaze dropped down to her red painted toes.

"Nathan, I don't have anyone if I don't have Kate, or Rachel. I just… Tell me about her."

"What?"

"Tell me about Rachel, I want to know about her." Nathan pressed his lips together and straightened up in his seat. The road was so empty this time of day, he wouldn't have minded driving for hours.

"Everyone was in fucking love with her. Everyone." Charlie raised an eyebrow. "She was… smart, and talented. A lot of people thought she was pretty—no everyone did, I'm pretty sure." Charlie smiled behind her hair.

"My better half, I guess." She chuckled.

"Don't say that." He murmured. The roads seemed to go on forever, straight ahead. Nothing was in their way, just them, the forest, and the pavement.

"Nathan, if you know something about what happened to Kate, I need to know. I can't stand seeing her like this, she's just so…broken." He pressed his lips together once more. His right arm reached back up to the steering wheel and he gripped tightly. "O-or Rachel. Just tell me what you can remember about her, anything." Suddenly, visions of Rachel's beautiful face began flashing in Nathan's mind. The dark room. Ropes, blindfolds, tape. The dark room. The syringe. Jefferson. Rachel, in the dark room. "Nathan? Nathan!" Charlie's scream was cut off by the sound of a blaring car horn. Nathan swiveled the wheel in a moment of panic; his large SUV skidded off the road and flipped into the forest with their bodies thrashing about like puppets.


	5. Aftermath

The curtain was pulled back; the rings clinking together like bells in Nathan's aching ears. He shuffled uncomfortably in the white sheets and blinked several times to get a grasp of his surroundings. He had an IV tube stabbed into his left arm; his right was feeling sore. The nurse—she looked like a nurse—unwrapped the bundle of flowers she was carrying in her hands and placed them in a dusty vase beside him. She handed him a card,

"Looks like someone's thinking of you." She smiled. "How are you feeling, Nathan?" He opened his mouth to speak but his lips were dry and the skin clung together like velcro. He just shook his head. She nodded and patted the railing on his bed gently. "You dislocated your right shoulder in the accident, but you should be fine. Those bruises on your forehead will heal up in no time." He wiggled his arm and winced at the soreness. "I'll ask you again when the anesthesia wears off." She ruffled the flowers once more and left the room, leaving the curtain opened. Nathan strained to turn his neck and peek over to the other side of the room. Charlie lay there with the same IV drip stuck into her arm. She had scrapes all along the right side of her body and her torso was stiff with bandage. Somehow though, seeing her there, bruised up and all, sent a wave of reassurance through him. Even in the broken state she was in, the light from the window rained down on her in peaceful waves. He averted his attention for a moment and opened the card that had come with the flowers.

 _Get better soon!_ Read the default print of the card. _Love, Mom and Dad._ They didn't even bother to write their own message. He scoffed and gripped it tightly in his hand. He looked over at Charlie's bed-stand to see if anyone had left her anything; but it was bare. Not even a vase. He sat himself up, groaning the entire way and reached for the pen attached to the clipboard at the end of his bed. He scribbled out the name signed at the bottom and added this above the printed words:

 _Hope you're feeling better Charlie, we're all worried about you. Come back soon!_ He decided against signing it in case she asked someone about it when she got back. What she didn't know couldn't harm her, after all. He sat himself back up and stifled a moan; everything was aching. He grabbed the IV tube and yanked it out quickly, a little wince escaping of the corner of his mouth. He grabbed the vase carefully with shaking arms and limped over to her side of the room. He placed it delicately on her stand and set the card upright beside it. She was still asleep. Her chest moved rigidly as she breathed, and her brows were in a slight furrow. He chewed on his bottom lip, thinking about how much pain she must've been in, and because of him, too. She didn't deserve this. Her fingers twitched slightly and her mouth took short little inhales as she slept. Watching her put him in to a strange place of mind; almost as if he was glad the accident had happened. In some twisted way, he found comfort in having gone through something so traumatic with her. It made him feel closer to her, in a way that he couldn't have if their fates had never intertwined in such a fucked up way. Human connection was a strange thing, and something Nathan had never understood until now. It wasn't something he could put into words but he could feel it, beating in unison with her fragile heart. Her eyes fluttered a bit and he quickly stumbled back to his side of the room, pulling the curtain behind him. He laid down flat on his back and pretended to close his eyes. She stirred around in her bed for a moment and he could see her shadow straining to reach for the vase. He wanted to get up and grab it for her so she wouldn't pull her stitches but he restrained himself and waited.

"…Nathan?" she said, finally giving up on the roses.

"Yeah." He mumbled. His voice was coarse. She pulled back the curtains to look at him. She smiled softly at the sight of a familiar, bruised up face. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. You?" He asked.

"I think so." She used her weak, thin arms to push her body out of the bed while suppressing the pain of her shattered ribcage. She sucked on the inside of her cheek and suppressed a cry.

"Stop moving!" He growled, perhaps more aggressive than he intended. She didn't seem to mind. Her voice was a daze.

"Someone left me flowers." She muttered, tugging the IV stand closer to her.

"—I'll get them." Anything to keep her from moving any more. He threw himself out of bed a bit too eagerly, and she watched as he carefully handed her the vase.

"Roses." She said, her eyes still fluttering "That's nice. They smell nice. You can put them back. Can you hand me the card?" He did as asked and she patted the space beside her for him to sit down. He cautiously obliged, only letting himself on a tiny fraction of the space. "Lay down, Nathan." She mused. Her voice was barely a breath. She didn't look well at all. They must have put her on stronger medication than him. Nathan gently rolled himself next to her. The bed was just big enough for their two small, frail frames. "Hope you're feeling better Charlie, we're all worried about you. Come back soon." She read softly. "I wonder why they crossed off their name." Nathan held the card in his own hands and pretended to study the ink he'd just imprinted only moments before.

"Maybe they were nervous?"

"It was probably a group effort or…something." She sighed, fading in and out of drowsiness. Her eyelids slowly fell shut like garage doors and her nodding head fell onto Nathan's shoulder.

"Charlie?" he murmured, but she didn't respond. A slow burning brewed in the pit of his stomach as he felt her breath so close to his skin. He turned his head slightly as if not to disturb her. She was so vulnerable now, broken and asleep like the way she found him that morning on the roof. Her arm had fallen into his lap, her wrist exposed and he could see the many cigarette burns she imprinted into herself. They ran all the way up her arm and stopped at the crevice of her elbow. He fingered his own scars and felt sad for her. She didn't deserve to feel how he did. Beside the window her tanned face glowed like butterscotch; freckles decorating her nose and forehead. She was a mere lamb that had wandered too far into the lion's den.

The past few weeks had progressed so quickly Nathan felt as if he'd lost all sense of time and what it meant to build a relationship. Not so long ago he bitterly deemed Charlie as an anti-social outcast because that was what everyone saw her as. He could understand now, why she always seemed a little sad, and jaded in conversation. She wasn't interested in everyone else, or what they thought. It wasn't important to her. Kate was important to her. Finding Rachel was important to her. She was a good girl hanging out with the wrong boy.

He raised his good arm and stroked a stray hair away from her face, resting his nose on the top of her warm head. She smelled like lavender shampoo and cigarettes; a strangely calming scent that he could imagine himself falling asleep beside.

Nathan shook the idea from his head. He was afraid of what was happening. To him. To her. He didn't want to look at Charlie anymore, afraid that he might find something he didn't want to see; hope for them, hope for himself. But he couldn't bring himself to drag his eyes away from her peaceful face. He pulled the hospital sheet over her shoulder and propped her drooping head against a pillow. Standing up away from her felt cold. Maybe he needed to stay that way.

* * *

Class again. At least it was photography, the only thing Nathan ever took seriously, and even then it was difficult to listen to Jefferson ramble on about 'aberration' with the thought of Charlie in the back of his head. They'd both been released on the same day, but she was excused from classes for a week due to her severely shattered ribcage. He hadn't gone to see her yet. He didn't know if she'd want to see him.

It was Thursday, a week since the accident; a week since he last saw Charlie. After she fell asleep beside him, a nurse came in to tell him he was free to go, and though he contemplated the idea of waiting for her, he left. The days had been getting longer since he got back, and every minute of class felt draining. The image of her sleeping listlessly beside him was engraved into his mind, and every time his mind wandered he found himself thinking of her.

"Now for next week I'd like you all to—" The bell rang before Jefferson could finish. Everyone's savior from possibly one of the dullest lectures to date. Nathan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and grabbed his backpack to leave but Jefferson was at his desk before he could even get out of his chair.

"Nathan, I'd like you to stay after class. I've got something to discuss with you regarding the uh… 'everyday heroes' contest." Nathan swallowed and looked up at the daunting figure shadowing over him. Jefferson never kept him after class unless it had something to do with their "photography sessions". The thought of the dark room always sent guilty shivers up Nathan's spine when he wasn't in the moment of it. It was a disgustingly morbid relationship he and Jefferson had, but he would forever be a part of it. He couldn't escape Jefferson, he didn't know how. The man had him under a sadistic spell; taking the place of a father Nathan never knew, and like a mouse he fell right into the trap like a masochist would, despite knowing the sacrifices he was taking in partaking in such "activities".

Everyone filed out of the classroom, desperate for some lunch and within seconds they were alone.

"What did you want to talk about?" Nathan asked.

"I heard about your little accident with Charlie last week." Jefferson said, circling Nathan's desk like a hawk.

"Yeah? Everyone's heard about it." Nathan replied, picking at some scratch marks in his desk with a pencil.

"How is she doing? Have you gone to see her?" The man's voice was calm and collected; something that always scared the shit out of Nathan. A storm was coming; he could hear it brewing in Jefferson's taut voice.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her." Nathan replied snidely. Perhaps it was a mistake to speak with a false air of confidence. Suddenly Jefferson slammed his hands on the table and Nathan dropped the pencil he had been twiddling between his fingers.

"Don't you fucking talk to me like that Prescott. She was my—our—next subject. I told you to keep a fucking eye out for her. She's innocent, fragile, and more importantly Blackwell's beautiful little outcast. No one would ever believe her! She was the _perfect_ girl for this, and you went and fucked it all up, you shithead!" He leaned down to stare Nathan straight in the eyes; his hands gripping so tightly to the table that his hard knuckles faded to white. He held eye contact for a brief moment, Nathan's shoulders shaking maniacally, before the man finally stood up and walked away towards his desk in a frustrated huff.

"I'm… I'm sorry." Nathan murmured timidly. Jefferson clicked his tongue.

"Hah, sorry. Oh please. You've already FUCKED this up Nathan, like you do with everything." His booming voice was eerily calm, like speaking to a madman who doesn't know he's crazy. "We'll have to wait and see if her scars heal well, I suppose… Can't photograph her in the state she's in now." He put his hands behind his back and paced around. Nathan watched in petrifying fear as he finally sat himself down on the corner of his desk with his hands placed neatly in his lap. "What were you doing in the car with her anyway?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was... getting close to her. L-like you wanted me to."

"Bullshit. I never asked you to talk to her. I simply told you to _watch_ her."

"I- was trying to get her to t-trust me. You know? So that it was easier to t-to get her somewhere we could—" He felt dirty even saying it. It was a lie, it was all a lie, and Jefferson knew. He sat down in his chair and began reading some papers on his desk, as if anything was worth more attention than the quivering boy sitting in the back of the room.

"If you're going to lie to me, I don't want to hear it anymore. Go on. Leave. I'm done." Nathan swallowed hard and furrowed his brows at the teacher as if looking for more confirmation. "I said LEAVE." Nathan jumped in his seat and quickly grabbed his bag, stumbling out of the room; his mind in a scramble.

* * *

"Kate, Kate please open up. It's Charlie." She let out a frustrated sigh and leaned her bruised forehead on the door. "Kate, please tell me why you're mad at me." A muffled voice responded from the other side, but Charlie couldn't make out what it had said. "What? Kate I can't hear you." The door finally opened, causing Charlie to lose her balance for a second and stumble into the dorm room. Everything was neat and in its place; but the mirrors were all covered with towels and the curtains had been pulled shut, blocking out any sunlight from coming in.

"What do you want, Charlie?" The blonde asked, sniffling and crossing her arms across her flat chest. Her nose was pink from crying and her eyes looked sullen and puffy as if she'd been sobbing for a week straight. She probably had.

"Kate is everything okay? I've been trying to contact you all week. You're never in. That or you're ignoring me, I guess…" Charlie reached out to rub Kate's shoulder but she wilted at her touch.

"H-how are you feeling?" Kate asked, not making eye contact with her.

"Well I can't sneeze without wanting to cry and wiping my butt has become one of the most difficult tasks in my entire teenage life. But yeah, I'm doing alright. I'm worried about you, Kate. That's why I wanted to come by." Kate shuffled her stance and looked down; pieces of her hair falling into her face. The girl looked broken, like a record player that had been scratched too many times to sing what it wanted to properly. "I know I haven't been there for you lately, and I'm sorry for that. I've been a shit friend, and you've always got my back so now it's my turn to have yours." She sat down on the bed and groaned, rubbing the bandages around her ribcage. Kate took a step out of the dark corner and looked up at her.

"Why have you been hanging around with Nathan?" she asked quietly but firmly.

"Nathan?" The question caught Charlie off-guard. What did Nathan have to do with this?

"Why were you in his car?" Kate spat out, her voice cracking with every word.

"I- we were going for a drive. I needed to talk to him about something—"

"Charlie, he's not a good person." Kate snapped, hot tears forming in her eyes. "He…he drugged me! He's the reason that video is up! I know he is…I…" Charlie got up from the bed and wrapped her arms around her friend, who was fighting hard to hold back sobs.

"Kate…" Charlie's hands turned into tight fists as she tried to hold back her own tears.

"I thought you were my friend. How could you go around hanging out with that… that monster? If you had been here for me you would've known that he…" Even in her most shattered state, Kate couldn't even bring herself to call anyone any names. She was so pure, how could Charlie have let her fall so hard?

"Kate, the reason why I was in his car was… because I wanted to ask him if he knew anything about what happened to you. I knew we couldn't talk about it anywhere else without people listening in so I asked him if we could go for a drive. Honest." The girl stopped shaking for a moment and looked up at Charlie; her eyes red and glossy like cherries.

"Really?" She murmured,

"Yeah. And I'm sorry I haven't checked up on you these past few weeks. I've been selfish. I know you've been going through hell and… this was my way of helping out. Max came by and told me you'd been…having a hard time. I was too scared to go to you. I knew you'd be upset with me for ignoring you and I just didn't know how to deal with the situation." She took the girl's hand in her own and held it as if she was scared Kate would fall right through the floor if she didn't hold on tight enough.

"I needed you…" Kate sniffled. Charlie could feel her heart sink to her stomach; how could she have let her own selfishness hurt the only person she'd ever cared about?

"I know… I know." Charlie sighed, gripping her hands even tighter. "I'm so sorry Kate. You know how I can get sometimes with tough situations. I'm trying now. I'll try harder for you."

"It's okay, Charlie. I'm sorry I didn't visit you in the hospital. That was horrible of me too. I should've come to see you, I just… I was too ashamed to show my face outside. And I was mad when Juliet told me you were hanging around with Nathan. That was wrong of me… I shouldn't have assumed things. I'm sorry Charlie." She pulled her in for a soft embrace and Charlie let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm not mad, I wouldn't have come to see me either." She remembered the flowers she had received and wondered who had sent them if not Kate. "I would've told you what I was doing, but it was hard to see you like this. I wanted to figure things out as soon as possible so I could help you. I didn't know if seeing you would help. I should've been there." Kate smiled weakly at her and shook her head,

"I understand, Charlie. You were only doing this to protect me."

"Good, good…" She sighed.

"So, did you um… find anything out about Nathan then?" Kate sat down in the rolling chair beside her desk and crossed one leg over the other. Charlie followed suit and sat down across from her on the bed.

"Well we… crashed before I could get much out of him."

"But anything? Charlie I know he did it, I remember seeing him there at the party. He _drugged_ me." Charlie scratched the back of her head and darted her eyes around the room, searching for the right words to say. "You believe me, right?" Kate asked desperately.

"Kate I… I don't—"

"Charlie I _swear_ , I know it was him. I know it was!" it was hard to see her like this again. They had only just mended things and Charlie was already undoing the stitches.

"I spent some time with him, and… He's not as bad of a guy as everyone thinks he is."

"Charlie, no, please." Kate's voice broke once more, this time she was in hysterics. "You have to believe me. I know it was him!" Of course Kate wanted her to believe her. Nathan Prescott was the school bully. He had power, the connections to cover up whatever it was that he may or may not have done. Everything pointed to him, but Charlie couldn't bring herself to believe he did what Kate had claimed. Drugging someone and kidnapping them would take a steel-cold heart, and though Nathan could be mean, he didn't seem to have any malicious intent to hurt anyone. Images of the hospital room flashed around in Charlie's head; she was heavily medicated at the time, but she couldn't forget how he had let her fall asleep nestled into his shoulder; the feel of his soft skin on her own, and how nervous he had been to lay down. A boy that gentle could never do the things Kate was accusing him of. No way in Hell. But Kate was so sure, and so desperate for Charlie to concur. She was at a split road. Which one was the right one to take? Her friend was in tears, a girl who never deserved to be on this shithole planet. Kate was too pure for the world she had been put into; a soul too big for the body it was placed.

"Charlie? You don't believe me, do you?" She cried, rubbing her eyes furiously. "Do you really trust him that much? Over me?" She sounded less accusatory and more hurt. Charlie opened her mouth to speak but found her words tangled up in her throat.

"No Kate—I just…"

"Get out, Charlie. Please, get out." She was speaking through broken sobs. Charlie shook her head, reaching out to grab her friend, but Kate bitterly swatted her hand away.

"Kate, I'm sorry, I'm trying to figure things out, I just don't think Nathan—"

"Get out!" She screamed, her shriek piercing through Charlie like a dagger. She had finally cracked, Charlie had ruined her. The conversation had taken such a terrible turn. Charlie staggered her way to the door with her head hung low and tears forming in her own eyes. "Don't come back." Kate's voice rasped. Charlie wanted to drop to her knees and apologize; for breaking Kate, for abandoning her when she needed a friend most, for not wanting to believe what she said about Nathan, but she knew it would be for all the wrong reasons. Kate fell onto her bed and bawled heavily into her pillow. Charlie bit her lip and could taste the tears running down the side of her bruised face. She put her hand on the doorknob and stopped for a minute, but the sound of Kate's sharp sobbing pushed her out. She opened the door and stepped out into a silent hallway.

"Oh fuck— Nathan, what are you doing here?" She slammed her back onto the wall beside Kate's room and held her hand over her chest in fright. The boy had been standing outside the door the entire time, listening to every detail of their drawn out conversation.

"I— I wanted to see you."


End file.
